How do you get the kitten to eat what you want her to? I thought, since she's pretty recently weaned, she'd eat whatever we put down. Apparently, she has other ideas.

She's sending a subtle message of what she thinks of her food ... She tries to bury it, same as litter contents!

She's underweight, according to the vet at her last visit (checkup, dewromed & first shots at 8wks), so I'm trying to fatten her up.

The folks who have her mommy weaned the litter at 6-7 weeks using Purina Kitten Chow kibble soaked in milk. Ugh!

I've got her off that ... but ... Orijen dry? No dice. Wellness kitten, canned? NO WAY! She will eat Techni-Cal precision kitten dry, although not alot. And, horror of horrors, she likes Whiskas Cuts Tuna in 85g pouches. She will eat one pouch in a day&1/2. She also likes to sample what we're eating, although I'm not keen on feeding table scraps, she jumps on the table and helps herself when you turn your back!

I'm an hour away from any pet food store, but yesterday I was travelling and picked up some Dick VP's Duck & Pea and some Merrick's canned with no artificial colour/flavour/preservatives.

So, how do I actually get her to eat it? Since she needs all the weight she has, I'm worried about going militant on her food and having her lose weight!

Also, I'm seeing a lot of people here against kibble food for pets ... I have always been told that "crunchies" are better for their teeth? Of course, all my past/present cats have had fresh water daily and have been good drinkers.

Yeah it's weird how cat's want Whiskas isn't it? I used to feed the Purrfectly Pouches to the stray cats because they were single serving so nothing to refrigerate or anything. Until I noticed it had BHA/BHT in it, and I'm anti-chemical preservatives myself so I wasn't too happy about Whiskas putting that in there and actually kind of hiding it (it was the last ingredient and they mashed it together with their contact info so it looks like an office number or something).

Erm, I have no idea why your cats wouldn't want Merrick. You got the regular Merrick like New England Boil and Cowboy Cookout, flavours like that?? My cats go nuts for Merrick.

If she likes tuna, then put tuna on top. I put Before Grains 100% meats on top their food or as a side snack sometimes. There's a tuna flavour and it's ground and in water so it's good for them.

Two of my cats are picky eaters too so don't feel alone. I suggest you just buy a bunch of different kinds in the smallest cans you can find, and keep trying until you find something the cat will eat and then stock up on it.

Please do not start her on kibble, they become kibble addicts and it is very hard to change them should you need to. Kibble is not better for their teeth, that was once thought.

I am surprised she doesn't like Kitten Wellness canned (well maybe not if she was eating the junk food that doesn't contain meat), that in my opinion is an excellent kitten food and have fed all my fosters that. I also feed them raw for their main source of food. Morning feedings, kitten wellness, afternoon and night feedings, raw. With the combination of the two, my foster kittens have developed such wonderful muscle mass that even a vet couldn't believe it. I have yet to see kittens that turn out as healthy as those that I have fostered, not that I am bragging, but want to be truthful.

Kittens get very hungry quickly, stick to the kitten Wellness canned, and raw if you decide, leave it out for a half of day and see if she will eat it, bet she will. Getting her started on quality food now will probably mean less vet bills later. Don't let her rule, you are her guardian.

I frequently leave canned out for up to 12 hours. You can add some extra water to slow down the drying out process, although some cats actually prefer it a tad crunchier. You might also try top-dressing the canned to make it more enticing to Cookie: pulverize her favourite dry and sprinkle it on top, or try parmesan cheese, tuna juice, some freeze-dried meat treats like Halo Liv-a-Littles or Real Food Toppers. Lots of cats really love plain meat baby food (no onions), which can be used in small amounts as a bribe food. Here are some more tips: http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitionin...o_Canned_Food_
And info on why wet is better than dry: http://www.catinfo.org/

These aren't specifically marketed as "kitten" food, but they're okay for her growth needs, right?

Merrick is fine for kittens. The whole "life stages" concept of feeding is really just a marketing ploy. As long as she's eating enough of a good quality food to meet her growth needs, there's no need for kitten food (which if you look at the nutritional analysis of most of them, they don't tend to be hugely different anyway). Think of cats in "the wild": kittens eat the same thing as the adults, just more of it in proportion to their size. There are no mice or birds specifically formulated for "kittens", or "seniors", or "siamese", or "persians".

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Originally Posted by Puss'FavPerson

PS ... she's still jumping up on the counter, but I think it's become a "hey, look what I can do!" kind of thing now!